Saturday, June 22, 2019

Kew - Reflections on a Sunny Day

Hi, the forecast today was for warm sunshine and a train strike - so the bus it was...
 look at that gorgeous blue sky!
 great plane trails in amongst the fluffy clouds
 the geese were walking towards me
 babies are growing fast!

 early morning shade

 the lilies are really shining this week in the Broad Walk

 you know what a fan I am of the acid green of the various Euphorbia that grow along the Broad Walk

 the fading allium seedheads were really shimmering in the 8am sun!




along Broad Walk at the corners of two side paths are some roses climbing up an A frame..
 I veered off at this point toward the Hive

 where the insects were enjoying the wildflowers

the rusty metal fencing around the top of the Hive,
 which I love, especially with the wildflowers poking through the gaps
 as I was photographing this (clover?),
 a little hover-thing landed on it..

it was very small but I managed to capture one decent shot
 then went round past the Princess of Wales glasshouse

 the big agave outside is quite sheltered and obviously attractive to spiders!

sheltering by a large tree a small group of irises glistened









but there was one at the front by the path I loved


 from there I went back round to the Pond
where I got rather carried away with the reflections...
perfect before the sun gets too high overhead
 love this one

 and the pop of the Summer Sun adds to it.
 from the waters edge the tree makes a perfect frame






 the WWII memorial bench












long shadows



 the family of geese I'd seen an hour earlier were now at the other end of the pond, having feasted on grass, and were now crossing the path in front of me...


 I walked past Sapphire Star


 I really love these purple and blue ones, they look different colours in every light (bit like my hair- not that that is purple)


 even though it was early, people were out enjoying the sunshine



 it was lovely and cool walking through the trees in the dappled shade
 off to my next favourite..



 there are more poppies than there were a week ago, I am sure

 I've left out loads, as you've seen them so many times before, but they were stunning today in the sun!


I walked up towards the Pagoda and the Japanese garden



 I was talking to the steward guarding them - I've seen her several times before and know these are some of her favourites.


she told me that at this time of day the yellow one in the centre left of this pic, is practically translucent if you view it from the other side....


 so after lots of close ups (we agreed we'd love it if they were rotated in the gravel so you could see different ones at the front now and then....)

 love this one!
 ... anyway, I went round to the other side of the yellow one...
 wow indeed!


 back the other side again

 I had the longer zoom on for these so could get some great closeups


such a treat



 final view (including the Kew steward - I must ask her next time I see her if she is a student, employee or just helping out for Chihuly!)
 I walked up Cedar Vista towards the lake, my long skirt skimming over the surface of the ever so slightly still dew-damp grass (very refreshing!)




 I could hear the call of peacocks all the way


the little pond is covered in pond-weed and scum. I'm surprised the rain didn't disperse it


 as I looked up in the cedar trees, I saw two of the peacocks...

a lady who stopped by me said she often sees them in the trees early in the morning and has once been lucky enough to see one fly out of the trees... what a sight that would be...


sadly neither moved - well, neither flew down..

still too early I guess
this one I took on the phone.




 I was rewarded at the lake with glorious reflections
(it was approaching 10 now)

 the blue sky reflecting in the water with the lush green growth round it, just beautiful

 ahead of me, the swan and her cygnets were again being hand-fed, this week by a lady on the bench by the crossing over the lake





 with Mum keeping a close eye on the ever-present Canada geese, making sure they don't get too close
 another photographer was taking multiple shots of the Sackler Crossing.. I waited a few minutes for him before walking across (didn't want to get in his way or his shots)
 I love the curves of the bridge
 pausing halfway across for views up the lake
and from other side, more reflections!

 I climbed up the Treetop Walkway

don't normally photograph this, the working bit behind the scenes
I could still hear the peacocks in the trees


 more shadows!






climbing down, I made my way to
the Temperate House

 walking round to the steps up...



 ok, I do like them now, in the sun!




the palms were being sprayed





 through the glass, more reflections!
 the sun was in the right direction to cast shadows on the floor too, love that you even get the colour as well!


















 angel's trumpets



 the lime crystal tower from a different angle



 reflections in the gallery windows


reflections again!

 the smoke tree near the entrance.  it's huge
 Princess of Wales glasshouse now...
the flower spike on this    ???? is huge and delicate

it's possibly an agave of some type.




 there were several flowers on this large cactus

 and loads of buds

  I walked round peering into the undergrowth and in all the spots I've seen them, but no water dragons today.  I was surprised as they seem to like the heat.



 looking into a fern
 orchid
 these little clusters of pink and white flowers were really pretty.  not sure what they are though

 there were lots of new flowers on the grevillea

 this is one of the older flowers
 walked through the rock garden
 back to the Broad Walk after a glass of water and a cake


(bit late, was going to have a proper lunch but didn't fancy any of the sandwiches and it was too hot for a hot meal.)







sat on a bench, as some cloud cover had come over so the sun wasn't too hot (it had only got to about 22c so wasn't massively hot)


but I didn't stop long, as I wanted to walk through the rose garden
 I'd been sitting on a bench with these grasses behind me, tickling my neck as they blew in the breeze....



 those roses on the frame again, in full sun now
 I like the spiky eryngium (sea holly)


 finally made it to the rose garden...


this week's rain had battered some of them a bit, but there was lots to admire (and smell)









some of the name labels tell you how scented they are





this is a variety called Port Sunlight  - included for fans of the happy stampers craft show!

not very scented



 I cut along a path through some trees past some large rambling roses
 a robin flew onto a bench


I went and sat on the grass in the shade of some big trees for a while


before cutting back past the Palm House and into
 the water lily house (it was really busy so they were restricting the numbers in at any one time)


one of the gourd type things bursting open
from the other side, bit blurry unfortunately




 the waterlilies match the shape of the glass so well





 and the leaves even more so!



that's your lot for today, I think the sunshine must have curbed my normally trigger-happy shutter finger as I took over 200 fewer photos than usual on a 6 hour visit!


Still, I've managed to make this a traditionally photo-heavy post, thanks for looking!



7 comments:

Sally H said...

Wow! Stunning photos, Helen! Good to see you got some sunshine. Love the waterlilies and the roses too

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

WOW, those new beds in front of the Palm House went in fast and are already filling in nicely. I also love how the urns look so full, too.

I really perked up when you wrote "rust." LOVE that rusty fence.

I'm still loving that WWII Memorial Bench. It is beautiful.

I'm so glad you spent a lot of time with the "balls" this time. I think this is the most you have photographed them, and I was mesmerized by their beauty and the variation within each ball.

I was surprised that peacocks can live in trees. For some reason, that information was new to me.

You got some magnificent photos on this last trip to Kew, Helen. I am in total awe and am SO glad you share these with us each time you go there. Thank you for these beauties today.

Neet said...

What a gorgeous day for you. Think we had it nice up north too (for a change).
Love the comment about the colour of your hair - wouldn't it be marvellous to have it those shades of purple with a touch of that blue in?
I don't recall seeing the Round (balls?) in the garden before but they are magnificent. The colours and the patterns - ooh!
I remember once going to Newstead Abbey and the peacocks there were in the trees and suddenly swooped down. It was a magnificent sight so I do hope you get to see them some time. Until then I had never thought of them as going in trees, perhaps I thought the bird was too unwieldy for that.
Lots of lovely photos Helen, too numerous to mention them all but every one of them savoured and enjoyed. New flowers on the grevillea in particular.
Love the water lily house and the glass in it really does echo the leaves - absolutely beautiful. A perfect ending to a wonderful day at kew (via my computer)
Hugs, Neet xx

Anne said...

Hello Helen - again - stunning photos. I didn't know peacocks went into trees - you learn something new every day. Anne x

Sue said...

Hi Helen, Loving the photos. Thanks for sharing. Sue

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Nearly missed these, looks like a great day. This weekend should be good for getting out and about again though I'm going to be in-doors with my craft group doing a workshop, just hope they've got good air conditioning. Have a lovely weekend, Angela xXx

craftimamma said...

Glorious photos as usual Helen. The roses are always beautiful but my favourite from this post is the tiny pink and white flower close up. It looks as though it's got a dusting of fine sugar on it.

Hugs
Lesley Xx